Battle in the Past
by shadylion
Summary: MWPP era, 1976. Voldemort decides to attack Harry where he is most vulnerable... the past. Harry follows him, but can he gain the trust of his parents and the Marauders?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling, I'm not making any money out of this.

**Chapter 1**

**Time Travel**

The sun shone warmly on the Hogwarts grounds, the castle appeared to be basking peacefully in it. Hagrid, the gamekeeper was traipsing along near the Forbidden forest, enjoying the last day of peace the castle would have, until the next year. It was the morning of September the First, and the students were due to return to school that evening.

Inside the castle, all was quiet, except for the occasional rumbling of a moving staircase. Peeves was silent as well, probably saving his energy for the evening. All quiet, except for a pair of footsteps, someone was walking briskly in the corridor leading to the Headmaster's office.

Harry Potter had returned to Hogwarts early that summer. Once the grief over losing Sirius had worn off, the full impact of Trelawney's prophecy hit Harry. Loath to waste any precious time during the summer, he had written to Dumbledore demanding that he be given some sort of training lessons, to prepare himself for the next time he would meet Voldemort. Of course, skipping his yearly stay at the Dursleys' was a fringe benefit.

Dumbledore had agreed, so Harry had spent nearly two months at the castle, undergoing a sort of crash course in Auror training. He was joined by Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville. Luna was invited to join as well, but she had left early that summer for Sweden along with her father, to look for Crumple-horned Snorkacks. Atleast, that's what Harry thought they were called.

Harry thought that the past couple of months were more rigorous that the Muggle boot camps that Dudley had been threatened with two years ago. This was mainly because the person in charge of their training was one very paranoid Auror, Mad-Eye Moody.

They woke (were woken) up at six every morning, for Moody's physical fitness training regime. Moody relentlessly put them through their paces, telling them tersely that most duels were lost because people were too fat to dodge curses properly. After a quick breakfast, they practiced dueling, among themselves and against Moody. He had given them all copies of _'An Auror's Survival Guide: How to last longer than five minutes on the battlefield'._ It was an invaluable book, a reference to useful curses and counter-curses, defensive techniques and strategies. Harry suspected that Moody had written half the book himself…

After lunch, there were Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore. In the absence of Snape, Harry mastered the art quickly, and was now learning the rudimentaries of Legilimency. No more dreams or fake visions from Voldemort.

They were usually free after that, until the evening, a time with Hermione used to research useful spells and incantations in the library and Neville to leaf through his sixth year Potions textbook. To everyone's surprise and Snape's amazement, Neville had got an 'Exceeding Expectations' grade in Potions, and McGonagall had bullied Snape into accepting all of them in his N.E.W.T Potions classes. Harry, Ron and Ginny usually goofed off in the evenings, playing Quidditch.

At Dumbledore's insistence, they had Apparation classes in the evening, which were discontinued the previous month, when all of them learnt to Apparate flawlessly. Harry promised himself that he would not run away from any duel, learning to Apparate was purely a precautionary measure, to get out of a hopeless situation.

At night, Dumbledore taught them the art of Conjuring and Animation, something that Harry had seen him use extensively in his duel with Voldemort at the Ministry. Conjuring was very difficult, and took up a lot of magical energy, as one had to create the objects out of nothing, as opposed to the usual Switching spells of Transfiguration. To Animate objects, one had to literally be a puppet master, imagining the motions of the puppet and willing it to move the same way.

On the whole, a very fatiguing and exhausting couple of months. Harry had loved every moment of it….

He had taken to the training like a duck to water, with an aptitude that surprised everyone. Soon, he had left his companions far behind in their training, surprisingly the only one who came somewhat close in power and ability was Ginny Weasley. Ron grumbled a lot when he was beaten soundly in a duel by his little sister. Moody gradually found it harder and harder to beat him, the last few times Harry had defeated the grizzled old Auror, using some unexpected spells, courtesy Hermione.

Harry's Occlumency skills were masterful, he had developed them until even Dumbledore could not enter his mind. Harry was looking forward to seeing Snape's face when he would inform him that he no longer needed their weekly lessons.

His Conjuring skills were less than perfect, although Dumbledore told him that they was excellent for someone his age, and promised him that with practice, they would become better. His Animation skills were much better, he thought that it was because he had a strong will, the same reason why he could resist the Imperius curse. He usually made the suits of armour clink their heels together and salute smartly as he walked by in the corridors…

The physical training had left an impact of sorts as well. Harry was still short, by normal standards, but he had grown a few inches that summer. He had filled out a bit as well, no longer scrawny, thanks to years of Dursley care. Also, he no longer needed to wear glasses, he knew he would be practically helpless if they ever got broken during a battle, and so he had taken a potion to cure his eye sight.

Dumbledore had promised to keep their training secret. Both of them had felt that they would have the element of surprise on their side if Voldemort did not know the full extent of Harry's powers. Harry had personally thought that the next time Death Eaters tried to attack him or his friends, they would get a _very _unpleasant surprise.

They did.

It happened when they had gone shopping in Diagon Alley three days before. A number of Order members were there to provide them protection. The Death Eaters had chosen a wrong time to attack Diagon Alley.

Harry and the others fought alongside the Aurors who had been assigned for their protection. Harry had refused to Apparate away, and the rest of them had followed his lead. The Death Eaters had been quickly routed, they had not expected so many Aurors in the Alley at that time. Just when it looked like victory was theirs, Voldemort put in an appearance, evidently learning that Harry was present at the battle.

Voldemort had tried to possess Harry again, like at the Ministry, but thanks to his Occlumency training, he managed to thwart his efforts. Then, they dueled. Harry had actually managed to hold Voldemort at bay for about five minutes, before Dumbledore arrived on the scene. A far cry from defeating him, sure, but the very fact that Harry had survived yet another encounter with Voldemort gave fresh hope to the wizarding world.

Now, on the morning of September the first, Harry was awakened by Fawkes bearing a message that he was to meet Dumbledore urgently, _with_ his trunk and his entire luggage. Wondering what it was all about, and in a rather bad temper, as today was their first 'off' day in two months, Harry found himself en route to the Headmaster's office. He had packed everything in his trunk and shrunk it, he didn't want to lug it along corridors and down staircases. As his footsteps echoed around the empty corridors, Harry felt that for all intents and purposes, he was the only person in the castle, discounting the portraits which sometimes called out to him as he walked.

He paused in front of the ugly gargoyle. Really, he thought to himself, Dumbledore didn't have very good taste, he could easily have gotten one of those knights on horses to guard his office.

He cleared his throat and said, "Mars bars." As the gargoyle jumped aside, he idly wondered whether Dumbledore made occasional forays into the Muggle world solely for purchasing confectionaries.

He walked up the circular staircase and entered the office. At Dumbledore's invitation, he took a chair, but not before glaring balefully at Fawkes. "You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked, while yawning pointedly.

Dumbledore chuckled, before answering gravely, "I'm afraid the matter at hand couldn't wait, Harry." Harry stiffened, Dumbledore was this serious only when something _extremely_ serious was at hand.

"As you probably have guessed, this is regarding the events that occurred three days ago." Harry remained silent, as Dumbledore continued, "Voldemort is extremely worried."

Harry gazed him incredulously, "What are you talking about? If you hadn't shown up when you did, we all would've been toast."

Dumbledore shook his head. "You see, Harry, this time Voldemort really _tried_ to kill you, he wasn't holding back. If anything," he continued, seeing that Harry was still looking puzzled, "he is surprised, as we all have, by how far you have come in two months. What you did, Harry, was something I would put beyond most, if not all, Aurors in the Ministry today."

Dumbledore held his hand up for silence, as Harry opened his mouth, "Hear me out, Harry. Time is short."

"As I was saying, we have obtained information that Voldemort is worried." Harry understood… _Snape._ "He is beginning to consider you a threat. But he cannot act in his usual manner in your case."

"The prophecy," Harry nodded.

"Yes. So… Voldemort does not wish to take the risk of fighting you."

Harry's head was whirling. "You mean… he wants a truce or something?"

Dumbledore chuckled softly, "No such thing I'm afraid. You see, there is some place where you _are_ vulnerable, and he hopes to kill you without needing to face you."

"I… don't understand…"

Dumbledore sighed, "_The past_, Harry. That is where, or perhaps I should say when, you are vulnerable. From my sources, he has gone back in time to the year 1976. If he kills James or Lily, you will never be born…"

Harry sat stunned. "But… but," he stammered after regaining his tongue, "I thought one could use a time turner only for a few… few hours at a time?"

"Indeed you are correct, Harry. But there are a few ancient artifacts, extremely powerful ones, enchanted with forgotten magics that can be used to travel backwards or forwards in time for a number of years. Voldemort has apparently found one of these."

Dumbledore held up a ring in his hand. Harry thought it looked like a perfectly ordinary ring, white gold with a large green gem setting. But the gem seemed broken in two, while the setting for the gem was round, the gem itself was semi-circular.

"Bill Weasley found it in one of the ancient Egyptian tombs he was excavating seven years ago. I have been keeping it safe for this moment."

Harry stared at Dumbledore, "You knew that you were going to need it? You knew this would happen?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Let me explain, Harry. It is possible, using this ring to go twenty years back in time. In fact, it's probable that even forty years can be managed."

"Well, what are you waiting for, Professor? Use it!"

Dumbledore sighed, "I'm afraid _you_ will be the one doing the time travel, Harry. Two reasons," he held up his hand as Harry opened his mouth to object. "One… the prophecy. Two," he continued with a small smile on his face, "I remember an extremely talented green-eyed black-haired student joining Hogwarts in his sixth year…"

Harry's thoughts were whirling about in his head. He shook his head to clear it, but to no avail. He would meet his parents… and the Marauders, and… Sirius. He simply did not know what he would do, the very thought was overwhelming.

"I… can't," he finally choked out.

There was silence in the office for a very long moment, until Harry looked up. Dumbledore's blue eyes were filled with sadness, as he spoke, "I'm truly sorry, Harry, for adding to your burden. But… it has to be done."

Suddenly a thought struck him. "But if you remember me from the past… Voldemort must remember me as well. So he'll know I'm going to follow him. What if… it's just a trap?"

Dumbledore considered him for a moment, "Are you willing to take the risk, Harry?"

There was another silence, until Harry finally spoke. "When will I come back?" he asked.

Harry thought he saw a shadow pass over Dumbledore's face, but it was gone quickly. "I cannot say," he said quietly, "I cannot tell you anything that might affect your behaviour in the past, which would in turn, change the timeline. And similarly, you cannot tell anyone about the future and what it holds. Not even…" he met Harry's eyes, "me."

Dumbledore leaned back and sighed, "But I do have some advice for you, Harry. I ask that you do not judge people from what you know they will turn out to be. It will be difficult, I know, but you must do it."

"You're talking about Pettigrew," Harry said, in a dead tone, but he was clenching his fists tightly.

"Among other people, yes."

Harry sighed, feeling very tired, even though he had barely awoken fifteen minutes ago. "When do you want me to leave?"

"Now."

His head jerked up in surprise "Now?"

Dumbledore looked at his watch. "Well, yes, if you leave in a few minutes, you should be in time to board the Hogwarts express. You have time to write a short note to your friends. I will, of course, inform them about your situation."

Harry wrote a short note on the parchment Dumbledore had conjured in front of him. He didn't know what to say at first. _'Hey guys, I'm going back in time to save my parents and myself, be back soon…' _sounded utterly ridiculous in his own ears. In the end, he just settled for telling them not to worry, he would take care of himself and come back before they knew it.

Dumbledore considered him carefully over his half-moon glasses. "All right, Harry. You must know that the ring will use your magic along with it's own to teleport both of you. Expect to feel a bit tired and exhausted for a few days atleast."

Harry nodded and took a deep breath. He put on the ring on his left forefinger. The ring was cold to the touch. "Imagine the date you want to travel to very clearly in your mind."

Harry thought, _'September the first, 1976. September the first, 1976. September…"_

The ring began to grow warmer and the green stone started glowing faintly. "It's working," he told Dumbledore tersely. Suddenly, he felt a jerk in his navel, similar to the effects of using a portkey. Through the whirl of colours flashing before his eyes, he could just make out a faint _'Good luck'_ from Dumbledore.

When Harry was gone, Dumbledore sank back in his armchair with a sigh. "You'll need it, Harry," he murmured to himself quietly.

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	2. Saving Private Snivellus

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling. I'm merely using him to quench my thirst for creative writing. Stay away, lawyer dudes!

**Chapter 2**

**Saving Private Snivellus**

Harry felt as though he was being shaken violently from side to side, up and down. He was uncomfortably reminded of a cola bottle Dudley used to shake to pop the cap off. Suddenly he felt ground beneath his feet, but couldn't hold himself up and went sprawling on the floor.

He retched violently, and was extremely glad that he hadn't had any breakfast. He looked around, and was struck by how different the Kings Cross station was. He saw that most of the people near him were watching him, and he realized that he was sitting on the ground. His attention was caught by an announcement for a train departing at five to eleven. He stood up in alarm, tried to look over at the clock, standing on tiptoe to peer over a lady's hat, which seemed a bit like Mrs. Figg's. "Perhaps she had bought the hat twenty years before," he thought to himself irrelevantly. His breath caught as the clock showed that he had five minutes to catch his train.

Cursing softly (he still felt a little nauseous) he hurried over to the barrier between platforms Nine and Ten. Hopefully the train still left from here, he thought, as he touched the ticket barrier experimentally. He was reassured when his hand went through, and he quickly stepped through.

He was reassured by the familiar sight of the Hogwarts express, with purple smoke coming from it's scarlet engine. There was quite a crowd on the platform, the noise of all the chatter nearly drowned out the warning whistle from the engine. He joined the rest of the black robed figures who were hurriedly boarding the train.

Harry made his way to the end of the train, hoping to find an empty compartment. He needed to _think_. The sight of so many unfamiliar faces laughing and talking made him feel extremely homesick…

He was going to meet his parents! And the Marauders! He wondered what their reaction would be to see someone who was practically James' twin brother. He decided he had to plan out what he was going to do, and what story he was going to give everyone about why he was joining Hogwarts so late. Dumbledore would certainly be suspicious…

He finally found an empty compartment at the very end of the train. He removed his trunk from his pocket, enlarged it and put it away under the seats. He settled down near the window, and far from planning out a strategy, he promptly fell asleep, exhausted from using so much magic to power the Time Turner.

_He was standing next to Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who, for some unaccountable reason, were hitting him. Ron was pounding him on his back, Ginny was in front of him, hitting his chest with her small fist. "You git," Ron gritted out, between his teeth. "You left us behind!" Ginny looked up at him and spoke, "Potter!"_

"_Huh?" Ginny had never called him that before._

"_Potter!" Suddenly he realized that it wasn't Ginny's voice at all._

He opened an eye blearily, and tried to glare at the intruder. _"What?"_

He could see that it was a dark haired girl, her face wasn't very clear. She opened her mouth, "You're not Potter…"

"'Course I am," he mumbled, trying to get back to sleep, "Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, you know the one…"

"Boy who lived?" came the voice again, quizzically.

_Oh dear. _Harry snapped his eyes open, realizing his mistake.

"Well, you're not James Potter at any rate. Is he your brother?"

He studied the girl in front of him. Tall, with jet-black hair pulled back in a ponytail and high cheekbones that made him feel sure that she had some East-European roots. A small upturned nose lent a bit of mischief to her otherwise aristocratic face. Cold grey eyes, at the moment filled with curiosity were observing him as closely as he was observing her. Suddenly, a pink tinge appeared on her cheeks, and she looked away, reminding him that he was staring at her far too long.

"No," he said finally, "I don't have any brothers. I don't know any James Potter."

She frowned, and Harry taking advantage of her preoccupation, cast a wandless charm upon his face, elongating his cheekbones slightly, like hers, and shortening his nose slightly. Perhaps now he didn't look like an exact carbon copy of his father.

"No," the girl agreed, "You don't look much like him, I was probably carried away by the messy hair."

Harry automatically put his hand on his head, trying to flatten his hair, but to no avail.

She laughed, "You're fighting a losing battle there, Potter," and then added with a sneer, "Or should I say '_Boy Who Lived'_ ?"

With the sneer on her face, she looked somewhat familiar. Harry smiled back without any malice, thinking hard, trying to place her.

"I thought James Potter was the last of his family," she said, with a sniff. "Oh, it's a common enough Muggle name," he replied absently. A disapproving expression came upon her face, and she edged away from him, as though he were carrying an infectious disease. "Oh, I didn't realize you were _Muggle_-born."

"No, I'm not," he said, with an impatient wave of his hand, "My parents took the name when they went into hiding." _Yes, this was a good enough lie. Best thing to do after blurting out that my name is Harry Potter._

"Hiding?" the girl repeated after him. "Yeah, from Voldemort…"

She gave an odd sort of yelp, and looked around fearfully, as though Voldemort was hanging around their compartment. _"Have you gone mad?"_ she hissed, "What did you do that for?"

He shrugged, not wanting to get into an argument. He thought he'd talked enough about himself… he needed more time to think up a good story about his family. "What's your name?"

The girl froze, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Excuse me?"

"What – is – your – name?" Harry asked, pronouncing each word clearly.

"I heard you," she snapped, "Do you honestly not know my name?"

Harry stared at her. This was the complete opposite of any conversation he would have had with a stranger in his time, he never needed to introduce himself… Suddenly, the irony of the situation struck him, he was unable to keep a straight face.

The girl fairly bristled with anger, as he laughed, she made to get up and leave.

"No, stop," Harry said, catching her wrist. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed." He pulled himself together, and added, "I'm new to Hogwarts, and I don't know anyone here."

The girl sat down, her expression softening. Harry began to suspect that the arrogant air was just a façade, it was at moments like this that she showed her true self.

"Oh, were you home-schooled then?"

Harry nodded gratefully at the explanation, he didn't know any other magical schools apart from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, where the records could be checked if he claimed to have studied there.

"I'm Eliza Zabini, sixth year, Slytherin house," she told him, holding out her hand. Harry shook it, realizing that she looked a bit like Blaise Zabini, who was in his year and in Slytherin as well. His mother, perhaps? But she'd have changed her name after marriage, so it was probably his aunt or something.

"I'll be in sixth year too," he informed her, "I took my O.W.Ls privately at the ministry."

"Oh, that's nice," she said, warming up to the subject with an eagerness that reminded him strongly of Hermione. "Which subjects are you taking?"

"Defence against Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures, I decided to drop Herbology."

She frowned at him, "Are you planning on becoming an _Auror_?"

She clearly didn't think much of the idea, so Harry told her that he hadn't thought about it yet, and added that since he'd failed History of Magic, Divination and Astronomy, he didn't have much choice in his N.E.W.T subjects.

Eliza gave a superior sniff again, which was slowly getting to Harry. "Astronomy is such a _breeze_, I can't believe you failed!"

'Not if one of your best friends was attacked by Aurors during the exams and you had a front row seat,' he thought to himself, but asked her, "What are you taking?"

"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes instead of your Care of Magical Creatures. Of course, that's an extra subject, but still…"

Harry got the impression that taking an extra subject was a very clever thing to do, before she changed the subject, "Which house do you think you'll be in? There are four houses, you know…"

"I know," he interrupted her, and she scowled, "I read about it…"

He wondered whether the Sorting Hat would keep him in Gyffindor, or move him to another house. It was a close shave the last time after all, he was very nearly put in Slytherin…

An impatient cough reminded him that he hadn't answered Eliza's question yet. "I don't know," he told her honestly, "I'm not very hardworking, and I'm not a bookworm, so that leaves Gryffindor and Slytherin, I guess."

She sniffed again, which grated on his nerves. "Will you stop doing that," he gritted out, "It's getting on my nerves."

Eliza had a very shocked expression on her face, as though she had never been spoken to like that before. She opened her mouth to retort angrily, but both of them were distracted by a loud cheer that went up in the passage outside.

"What was that?" Harry asked, moving to the door. He opened it and stepped out, a large crowd was gathered at the end of the coach. He made his way to the edge of the crowd to take a look at the disturbance.

He got a very strong sense of déjà vu. Severus Snape was facing James Potter and Sirius Black. James was holding two wands, one in each hand, apparently he had just disarmed Snape, who had backed up to the coach wall, glaring at both of them.

_His dad… his dad and Sirius… they were real, he could touch them… they were alive…_

"Hey look," James called out, "It's Snivelly's wand." He made an exaggerated gesture of wiping it with his robes. "As greasy as the rest of him, how on earth do you manage to hold it without it slipping away, Snivellus?"

Harry didn't think that was very funny, but the crowd laughed excitedly, waiting for some action. Snape spat out some insults at James, which made the girls in the crowd blush, and the boys mutter among themselves. Sirius made a complicated movement with his wand, and pointed it at Snape, and a flash of light later, Snape was a small green snake writhing on the floor.

The crowd murmured in appreciation, the transfiguration was quite complex. "A regular snake in the grass," laughed Sirius, adding some grass on the floor magically. The crowd roared it's approval.

Harry felt someone tugging on his arm, he turned around and found that Eliza had followed him outside. "Let's go," she hissed at him, "don't interfere with them."

Harry frowned, but he stood his ground. "Fine," she said, and stomped off back to her coach.

"Is he poisonous?" came an excited voice. Harry's face darkened as he turned back to find the voice. There he was, a short, rather plump boy, trying to peer at the snake between James and Sirius. Peter Pettigrew. Harry resisted the temptation to draw out his wand and kill him then and there, but Dumbledore's words came back to him, and he released the grip on his wand reluctantly. This wasn't the Peter who had betrayed his parents, this was an innocent sixteen year old boy, or atleast as innocent as sixteen year olds were.

"I don't know," said Sirius, frowning. "Maybe we should remove his teeth, sorry _fangs_, just in case…"

Harry spoke up. "That's not a very good idea."

Sirius and James jumped up, they probably thought he was a prefect, or a teacher. The crowd stepped away from him, giving them a clear view of Harry. Both sighed in relief.

Harry spoke again, "You'll find it hard to change him back, if you do that."

Sirius opened his mouth, probably to tell him to mind his own business, but a quiet voice came from the compartment closest to them. Remus Lupin stepped out, "He's right, Padfoot."

Sirius looked darkly at the snake, "You're assuming we're going to change him back, Moony?"

The crowd laughed again, but Lupin put an end to their 'show'. "I think that's quite enough, Sirius. You don't want to get into trouble even before school starts, do you?"

"Just some more, please Moony? Pleeease?" Lupin shook his head, but he was smiling slightly as Sirius went down on his knees, clasping his hands in front of him, in an exaggerated show of begging.

"Let's atleast give him boils then," Peter suggested brightly, as he drew his wand. _"Furnunculus."_

"_Accio,"_ said Harry calmly, and the snake zoomed towards him, as the jet of light struck the floor where Snape was a moment before.

"_I said that was enough!" _Lupin yelled at Peter. Harry looked at him in shock, he had never heard Lupin raise his voice before. 'Must be close to the full moon,' he thought. He smiled a little, thinking that the 'that time of the month' joke took on a whole new meaning when applied to Moony.

"Don't _any_ of you pay any attention in Transfiguration class? A transfigured object must be kept whole in order for the reversal spell to work. And the rest of you, get back in your compartments!"

The crowd quickly dispersed, muttering among themselves. Some of them shot dark looks at Harry as they passed him. 'Probably for coming to Snape's aid,' he thought. Sirius ignored Lupin, he was scowling at Harry as well. James turned to Lupin and said lightly, "Prefect Moony."

Lupin wasn't amused, he still had a frown on his face. "Sirius, change him back, we'll get back as well."

Harry didn't think it was a very good idea for Snape to meet the Marauders so soon after his embarassment. Lupin opened his mouth to talk to Harry, but he cut him off, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Lupin still looked slightly worried, "Are you sure? It is a complex bit of transfiguration…" Sirius turned away from Harry, and made to move back into their compartment. "Oh, who cares, Moony? We have better things to worry about…" The meaningful look he cast on Moony was not lost on Harry, the Marauders were going to plan one of their monthly escapades.

Harry smiled at the group, a smile which only Lupin returned, and went back to join Eliza. He didn't think he had made a great impression on Sirius or his father, pity. Plus, though he knew that all of them (except Peter) would turn out all right when they grew older, he couldn't bring himself to actually _like_ them very much, of all the Marauders, only Lupin seemed somewhat tolerable.

Eliza looked up from the book she was reading, as he carefully placed the green snake two seats from her. "Quite a Gryffindor we've turned out to be, huh Potter?" she asked. Harry didn't have to look at her to know that she had a sneer on her face, but he ignored her. Waving his wand over the snake, he muttered the counter-Transfiguration spell. Snape suddenly appeared on the seat, but due to the strange position he was in, he toppled on to the floor.

Eliza ignored Snape completely, but was looking at Harry with a grudging sort of respect, "That was pretty good. Not many sixth-years can do that, you know."

Snape was looking up from the floor of the compartment, he looked a bit shell-shocked, but seemed all right otherwise. "Zabini?" he asked, not sounding very sure of himself. "What am I doing here?"

Eliza gave a quick shake of her head, which caused the ponytail to swing slightly and come to rest on her shoulder. "You have Potter to thank for that," she said, with a little sniff, waving over at Harry.

Quick as a flash, Snape was up again, wand clenched in his hand and a curse on his lips. Harry was saved from putting up a shield, when he stopped suddenly, seeing that it wasn't James Potter in front of him.

"He saved you from the nasty Marauders, Snape," Eliza added, rather condescendingly. "After you got yourself disarmed…"

Snape glared at her, and Harry was strongly reminded of his Potion master, with good reason. Without a word, he strode over to the door and disappeared down the corridor, his robes billowing out angrily behind him.

"Charming fellow," Harry murmured, still looking at the door. "A trait shared by most Slytherin boys in my year," Eliza replied lightly.

He was about to reply when he caught someone at the door, looking out at the receding figure of Severus Snape. Someone with red hair and green eyes… Lily Evans.

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**A/N: **This chapter was originally named _Saving Snivellus_, but I just couldn't resist putting in the 'Private'. Any guesses which house Harry gets sorted into? Easy to guess from the summary!

Oh, and assume that Harry and co. were given special permission to use magic that summer… forgot to mention that!

shadylion


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me…

**Chapter 3**

**Lily Evans**

Harry's throat grew dry as he stared at his mother's profile. In a way he was looking forward to meet her even more, in the aftermath of meeting his father and godfather. She was undeniably beautiful with her thick red hair that nearly came down to her waist and her bright green eyes, just like Harry's. Her lips were pursed together and she was frowning slightly, staring at Snape's departing back.

She turned and smiled at Eliza from the doorway, not noticing Harry. "Don't tell me _Severus Snape_ has joined the club as well!"

Eliza stared coldly at her, as Lily's smile faltered slightly. "What's …"

"Potter brought him here," she said, her voice devoid of all emotion, indicating Harry. Lily jumped a little as she turned, Harry caught some emotion on her face that he could not fathom, but it was gone instantly.

"You're not Potter," she said, sounding relieved. Harry opened his mouth to reply, but only a croak came out. He blushed slightly and cleared his throat. "My name's Harry Potter." "Nice to meet you," he added as an afterthought.

"No relation to James Potter, I hope?" she enquired sharply. She had the grace to blush slightly as he stared at her. "I'm sorry. It's just that … he's in my year, you see. And I … we don't get along so well."

"No…" he said, still looking at her, "No relation."

"You do look a bit like him, you know. The hair, it sticks up at the back just like his."

"Really?" came Eliza's cold drawl. Harry glared at her, wishing that the floor of the train would open up and swallow her, letting him have a peaceful conversation with Lily.

Eliza seemed a little surprised to find herself the recipient of two death glares, though Lily had flushed slightly. "It's hard not to notice," she replied evenly, "When he keeps ruffling up his hair all the time."

"Anyway," she continued, smiling at Harry. "It's not that big a resemblance, your eyes especially, are like… mine actually," she sounded a bit surprised. Harry got the distinct impression Lily was a bit of a chatterbox, as she continued, "It's not that you can be related to me though, I'm Muggle-born." She finished the statement, no longer smiling, looking expectantly at Harry, who understood completely. She wanted to know if he was a pureblood bigot like Malfoy.

"People say I have my mother's eyes," he told her smiling. "She was Muggle-born as well."

Lily smiled back, but then frowned slightly, probably registering Harry's use of the past tense.

"I'm sure this is fascinating," Eliza spoke again, looking directly at Lily. Harry fought the urge to throttle her. "But is there something you wanted, Evans?"

"Did you bring the… er, thing, Zabini?"

"Yes. It wasn't much trouble."

"And er…" At this point Lily glanced at Harry slightly, who took the hint and got up reluctantly. "Excuse me for a bit," he told them as he opened the door. Lily smiled at him gratefully, while Eliza ignored him.

He stepped outside onto the corridor, and slid the door shut behind him. He stood there for a while wondering where to go. From inside the compartment came the sound of Lily collapsing on the seat with a deep sigh.

"Tough summer, Lily?" came Eliza voice, not as cold and forbidding as usual. Harry was mildly surprised, but then again, Lily _had_ been surprised when Eliza had greeted her so coolly. Perhaps Slytherin-Gryffindor friendships were frowned upon by the students of both houses? Was this why they were pretending to hardly know each other?

Lily gave a great sigh again. "Just the usual _petty_ problem…"

Eliza laughed softly. "Just hex her, why don't you?"

"For heavens' sake, Eliza!" Lily exclaimed irritably. "I've had my share of trouble with the Ministry already. I live in a Muggle house, any trace of magic would end up in my getting another owl from that Mafalda Hopkirk. In any case," she continued, sighing deeply. "My parents would throw a fit. They weren't very amused when I turned Petunia's teacup into frogspawn…"

Eliza gave a very unladylike snort. "How was your summer?" Lily asked her.

There was a brief silence in the compartment. "Not good," Eliza said softly. "My father… is growing impatient. He has had many offers…"

There was the sound of Lily getting up from her seat. Harry suspected that she had seated herself next to Eliza. "You poor dear," she said kindly, as Eliza gave a great sniff, a real one this time.

At this point, Harry suddenly became aware that he was listening in on a very private conversation. He hurried away down the corridor. He realized that he was feeling rather hungry, perhaps he could buy something from the trolley lady.

He felt a vague sort of pride that his mother was a good person, not prejudiced against Slytherins. Although why she would be friends with someone like Eliza Zabini, whose very appearance virtually screamed 'pureblood' was beyond his comprehension. But perhaps that was all an act, perhaps Eliza wanted to fit in with the rest of the Slytherins… Harry really didn't see Lily putting up with any pureblood hogwash from anyone…

He soon slowed down, glancing at people as he passed them. Now and then, he felt a vague sort of recognition when he looked at someone, but he didn't stop to talk to any of them. Naturally everyone ignored him as well, although he saw recognition flash in the eyes of a few people, which soon faded away when they realized he wasn't James Potter.

He stopped at the bathroom, but saw Pettigrew lounging about outside. He glared at him with deep loathing in his eyes. Pettigrew paled visibly when he met Harry's gaze, and backed away until his back was against the wall.

"What's going on here?" came a loud voice behind Harry, who whirled around and saw Sirius emerging from the bathroom. His teeth were bared slightly, and he looked quite a bit like Padfoot, Harry thought. His right hand was in the pocket of his robes, and Harry was sure that he was fingering his wand beneath them.

"Sirius," Pettigrew gasped in relief, and quickly scuttled over to his side. Harry took a deep breath, remembering Dumbledore's words, _this wasn't the person who betrayed his parents._ But although his mind believed it, his heart wouldn't…

He closed his eyes and forced himself to think rationally… There wasn't any use telling them about Wormtail's perfidy in any case, he told himself. After all, how would he feel if some perfect stranger came to him and told him that Ron or Hermione weren't trustworthy?

He opened his eyes to find Sirius looking at him curiously. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you before…" Harry looked at Pettigrew again, who flinched visibly and clutched Sirius's arm. Sirius smiled at him protectively.

Harry couldn't take it anymore. "Excuse me," he mumbled pushing his way into the bathroom cubicle. He closed the door, bolted it and slowly sank down to the floor, his hands touching the cool metal floor.

_The last time both of them were together, Sirius was trying to kill Pettigrew. And I had to stop him. This is wrong… all wrong…_

For a moment, he felt a great swelling anger against Dumbledore for forcing him to go through this. Watching events unfold as he was powerless to stop them did _not_ appeal to him.

A sudden thought entered his mind. _Did_ he have to let things go on as they were? Why couldn't he change the way things would turn out? What would happen if he killed Pettigrew now? Was he capable of that in the first place? Somehow, Harry did not think so…

'And what of the other Death-Eaters?' his rational voice spoke in his mind. 'Would you kill all of them too, innocent school children as they are now?' And if he did change the way things were, Voldemort would not fall in the Halloween of 1981, he would have thirteen more years to consolidate his power. Who was he to deny the wizarding world thirteen years of peace? Thirteen precious years… Hundreds more would die if that did not happen…

Perhaps this was what Dumbledore meant when he talked about 'choosing between what was right and what was easy.' He _had_ told Harry that it would be difficult… a journey he would have to make alone, without confiding in anybody.

Harry straightened up, instinctively putting his hand to the bridge of his nose to push up his glasses, before remembering that he no longer wore them. For now… for now, he would just go along with things as they were. Let's see what the past holds for us, he thought to himself with a laugh…

He walked back down the corridor, back to the last compartment. He met the trolley lady, and bought as much food as he could carry. When he reached the door, he called out, "Could you open the door please? My arms are full."

The door was opened immediately by Lily. "I thought we had driven you away," she told him. Eyeing his load, she added, "you must be really hungry…"

"Starving," he told her, smiling, his spirits rising. He tipped the food onto an empty seat, and opened a packet of Cauldron Cakes. "Help yourself," he told them, munching away.

Lily immediately opened a Chocolate Frog, (he later learnt that she was an avid collector of Chocolate Frog cards) but Eliza wouldn't touch Harry's food. Her moment of weakness had passed, Harry noted, she seemed her usual haughty self.

When Lily passed around some sandwiches that her mother had prepared for her, Harry thought to ask her, "Lily, what do your parents do?"

"My dad's a neurosurgeon at a big hospital in London. That means…"

"I know what a neurosurgeon is," Harry cut in.

"And my mom works as a receptionist in the same hospital." She hesitated a bit, "How do you know this… you know… Muggle stuff? Eliza tells me your parents were a witch and a wizard?"

"That's true," Harry said, glancing at Eliza, who was steadfastly observing the scenery outside. He had to stick to the story he had told her. "I lived among the Muggles when I was a kid. My parents decided to stay away from the wizarding society when they went into hiding from Voldemort."

Eliza hissed in displeasure on hearing the name, but to her credit, Lily did not even flinch. Then again, he reminded himself, she was Muggle-born and perhaps did not even know the horrors that Voldemort was capable of perpetrating.

"Oh good, you can say the name," she told him, "I was never really satisfied with the reasons they gave for calling him You-Know-Who and all that. The first time I came here, some people were talking about him… in hushed voices, of course, and I thought they were hiding something from me, you know? Trying to leave me out of the conversation… It made me quite angry with Alice, I remember…"

"Alice?" _Could it be Neville's mother they were talking about?_

"Alice Prewett. She's in my year, in Gryffindor too. Soon to be Alice Longbottom if Frank has his way. Anyway, why are you starting Hogwarts so late?"

"I was home schooled," Harry told her. "I came… after my parents died."

There was silence in the compartment for a few seconds. Even Eliza looked away from the window at Harry, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry," Lily said softly, looking highly distressed.

"Don't worry about it," Harry spoke firmly, "I've got over it."

"It happened last year?" Eliza asked gently.

"Yes, they wanted me to come to Hogwarts if… anything happened to them. I haven't yet written to Dumbledore," he added, hoping to change the subject, he was feeling a little guilty for lying. But then again, if people thought his parents died recently, then perhaps they wouldn't enquire much about them. "Do you think he'll let me join?"

Lily seemed glad that the subject was changed as well. "I'm sure he will. He _never_ turns away a student from Hogwarts."

Perhaps that was the problem, Harry thought to himself. Tom Riddle, the Malfoys… wouldn't it be better if they were denied education in the first place? Certainly it was a moral issue of sorts, but didn't the benefits outweigh the risks?

He emerged from his short reverie to find Lily and Eliza looking worriedly at each other. They probably thought he was thinking about his parents, he thought, and sought to change the subject again.

"So, er… what do your parents do, Eliza?"

Eliza looked incredulous for a moment, Harry wondered if he'd said something stupid. "My father is the Deputy-Head of the Wizengamot _and_ the head of the Fourteen Families." She seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction, so Harry asked, "What's that?"

Lily burst into laughter as Eliza flushed, "That's the same thing I asked her when we first met!" she told him finally, "She thought I was insulting her family!" She laughed even harder when Harry looked horrified and apologized hurriedly to Eliza, who seemed to be deciding whether to snap at Harry or at Lily. Neither won out as in the end, she smiled reluctantly at both of them.

'_She can smile?'_ was Harry's first thought. Somehow the aristocracy and the haughtiness which seemed to be etched permanently on her face fell away, as though by magic, leaving behind a much pleasanter Eliza Zabini. Her eyes, normally grey and cold, were shining with amusement, as she turned to Harry.

"The Fourteen Families is an…"

"May I come in, Eliza?" came a voice from outside, rapping the door smartly.

Lily jumped up as though stung by a nettle and hurriedly gathered her small bag where she had brought her sandwiches. "Well, I'll see you later in Potions, Zabini" she called out loudly, before adding a soft, "Bye, Harry."

She pulled the door open and stormed out, causing a startled boy to jump back. She smiled at the scowling boy sweetly, before disappearing down the corridor.

The boy stepped in, for a moment Harry thought it was Sirius, but he saw that this boy's hair was longer, and his eyes were brown instead of blue. His facial features were almost the same, except for his chin, which appeared rather weak, rather than jutting out determinedly like Sirius's.

Harry remembered that Sirius had mentioned a brother once… one who had become a Death Eater and had been killed when he tried to quit… Regulus Black.

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**A/N:** Yes, it's been a while since I updated. College has started again, so I'm afraid updates will be rather sporadic.

This fic may have a few references to HBP, though it's probably not necessary to put in a spoiler warning…

Fourteen Families… I remember reading in some fic, I forgot which one, if anyone does know, I'll give the author the credit in the next chapter…

So long, and do review!

shadylion


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